Help --- Reloading mistake

[bradh]

Reloading 223 remington, bucket of empty brass that looked super clean so assumed they had been resized with no primers installed. Beveled case mouth and primed 600 cases. Put powder in 50 this morning and went to seat bullets. They seat very loose and can be pulled by finger alone. Now I know the cases had not been resized. I want to save the cases so how do I deaden the
primers so I can resize these cases.
Thanks for any help!

[wallenba]

Easy fix. Leave the primers alone. Pour out powder. Simply remove the de-capper expander if it is a Lee Full length sizing die. If other brand pull the expander out remove the de-capping pin. Then lube outside of cases and re-size. The case necks may not be perfect without the expander, but should work to hold bullet.
On a side note, I routinely remove de-capping pins from all my FL dies, and use a Lee universal de-capping die. On the Lee's, it would have to be broken off and dressed down.

[fatelk]

No need to kill the primers. Just remove the decapping pin from your sizing die, size them and load them up.

[Taylor]

Remove the de-cap pin and re-size as you normally would.By removing the pin,nothing will touch the primer and you can resize ad still use the primer.BTW...dump out the powder...

[Taylor]

Only seconds apart...[smilie=s:

[kenyerian]

Just take the decap unit out of the die .

[kenyerian]

Man, I'm really slow.

[FISH4BUGS]

TRIM THEM AFTER RESIZING! You might not be able to shoot them after reloading if they are too long.
Be careful!

[marlin39a]

You might want to invest in a cartridge gauge also. And check the OAL. .223 Rem that I reload always need to be trimmed back as part of processing.

[bradh]

OK I pull the decap pin then lube and size. I use a vibrator cleaner with small
crushed walnut shells to get the case lube off. I am conserned lube will get in the case and screw-up some primers?
Thanks for all the help.

[starmac]

If you feel you must or are worried about lube contamination, just decap them, you can reuse the primers.

[JWT]

I use a vibrator cleaner with small crushed walnut shells to get the case lube off.

Don't vibrate clean with primers in place. Hand wipe lube on and off using shop rags, towel, thick paper towel, etc. When you trim and chamfer, make sure none of the brass chips are left in the case.

[dragon813gt]

If you feel you must or are worried about lube contamination, just decap them, you can reuse the primers.

Yep, I would decap them and then process the brass like normal.

[country gent]

Wipe them down after resizing them with a rag and accetone or other solvent to remove the lube. O dies other than lees if you put the expander back in the die minus the decapping pin just snug it with the pin removed ( you may want a very short "blank" if its a collet type) you can expand the necks back up. Ive seen dies that really over size some brass and expand it back up. you might end up with heavy neck tension with out the expander ball. You also might be able to raise the expander assembly enoughto not decap and still function.

[daschnoz]

I had a similar situation, only mine went to the next level. I was working on a 308 project, loading a case worth of ammo for the stash (it's a great way to use up the dregs in the many powder jugs on the shelf). Anyway, it wasn't until I got to the range with some that I realized something wasn't right. The best that I can tell, the resize die worked itself loose and many of the cases were not properly resized all the way down to the case head. Needless to say, I didn't want to pull down a case worth of ammo. I ended up getting a 358WIN resize die, removed the entire upper part that holds the de-capper/expander, and ran all of the rounds through that. Perfection.

Like I noted, your problem is slightly different, but I threw this out there for "keep it in the back of your head" purposes.

[B. Lumpkin]

Remove pin, resize, load as normal, tumble loaded rds for about 10 minutes to remove case lube, enjoy.

[bradh]

Starmac you say decap and reuse the primers? Do you mean decap like
a normal fired primer?

[762 shooter]

Starmac you say decap and reuse the primers? Do you mean decap like
a normal fired primer?

Yes he is saying that. I have deprimed live primers and reprimed brass with the live deprimed primers. Caution! do not say that last sentence too fast.

You may have a primer go off while depriming just be careful. 99% will go bang in the different brass.

762

[sfcairborne]

Like others have said take the decamping pin out and re size and trim. You'll be fine

[trapper9260]

I have remove the primers on some also and so far no problem.Be careful .Also do not put prime cases in for cleaning to remove the case lube. Do like was stated use a cloth or paper towel . Or just remove the primer.

[rockrat]

I would just adjust the decapping stem upwards to where it won't touch the primer.. Dump powder, resize case, wipe off case, recharge with powder and seat bullet

[runfiverun]

I'd just lube them and run them through my Dillon size/trim die.
then throw them in the tumbler, and load as normal.
normal meaning push them over the expander ball in station 1 on the Dillon small rifle 550.

[gray wolf]

I would just adjust the decapping stem upwards to where it won't touch the primer.. Dump powder, resize case, wipe off case, recharge with powder and seat bullet

I would have to agree with the above, isolate the problem--choose the best simplest solution.

[mold maker]

While pushing out live primers is at first a stressful experience, if done slowly and with attention to the pressure applied, it can be done safely. Wearing proper safety equipment is highly recommended.
It is unnerving to push primed case into a sizing die, with or without the pin, but it has been proven doable.
Tumbling the sized case will inevitably get media stuck in the flash holes. That's why the recommendation to clean off lube with a rag or towel.Just be glad you only have a few to do.
No harm done, and a valuable lesson learned.